This week, Empire Magazine delves inside “Batman v Supmeran: Dawn of Justice” with an all-access story that goes behind the scenes. To drive the hype machine forward, they released their cover image of the titular Batman and Superman staring into the camera, steel in their eyes:
Can we talk about Batman for a minute? It”s time to address the elephant in the room. That Batsuit is obviously juicing. Yes, Batman”s costumes in “Dawn of Justice” are modeled after the Dark Knight Returns look. But though Bruce Wayne is older in that story – not “Batman Beyond” old, but not a spry young vigilante either – he is built like a truck. So the suit makes sense within the context of the comic.
Ben Affleck is not built like a truck, because he is a human person and not a two-dimensional drawing. In the trailer for “Dawn of Justice,” audiences get their first look at Bruce Wayne in the immediate aftermath of Superman and Zod”s battle. Batfleck looks good, but he doesn”t look “ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEE!?!” good.
Image Credit: Warner Bros.
Of course, this is before Bruce Wayne declares Batwar on Superman. He”s in retirement and ex-vigilantes probably go a little lax on their gym routine. The trailer even has a snippet of what is probably a training montage as Batman uses his rage to push himself back into villain-kicking shape. CrossFit: Official training regimen of superheroes!
Again, Batfleck looks like he could stomp bad guys into the dirt, but he doesn”t look like he”s been popping steroids like Tic-Tacs. Even later on in the movie, when he”s gone full “Dark Knight” – as evidenced by his all-black suit, obviously – Batman doesn”t exactly look like he”s about to Hulk out of his designer duds.
So what is going on with that suit? The obvious – re: boring – answer is those are rubber muscles created by the costume department to give Batman gravitas. An unfortunate side effect appears to be that Batfleck can no longer put his arms completely down.
But is there a in-universe reason for this design? After all, Batman has never been above a little mechanical assistance. Could the outsized muscles on the Batsuit be similar to the exoskeleton braces of comics (and movies) past?
Or is it really just what it seems- another attempt to make Batman”s actor looks as stocky as his comic book counterpart. What do you guys think?